Not all SMS marketing campaigns are created equal. There are some companies that fully integrate SMS marketing into their business strategy and others who see it as a side project.

According to a survey by ScanLife, 89% of customers use their mobile phones while shopping, and 64% of Americans own a smartphone as of 2015. Given this, which company do you think will have a more successful marketing campaign?

If you’re already on board with SMS marketing, here are some tips and suggestions on how to maximize your success.

1. Create an SMS Marketing Team

Large SMS marketing campaigns aren’t DIY. You’ll need a variety of skilled professionals in order to get the most out of your marketing strategy. One or a few people may fill several of these roles, but you’ll need: an SMS marketing program expert, a retail expert, coordinators for on-location signage, digital creative designers, social media experts, a promotions specialist, an ROI, and discount budget analyst, and more.

These areas need to be coordinated, and since the timeline for SMS is getting more and more immediate, the marketing team needs to work very closely and communicate frequently about plans, strategies, and execution. The more complete your SMS team, the greater the benefits you’ll reap from effective marketing strategies. 

2. Know Thy Customer

Use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) app to measure the success of your messages. For more info on the best CRMs available, check out this ultimate guide.

Analyze purchase history and location-based demographics, so you can send the right messages to the right customers. If you’re a cosmetics line, don’t send an anti-wrinkle cream coupon to a twenty-year-old for your store in Houston when she lives in Boston.

Segment your clients for targeted promotions. Send bulk messages for general sales and promotions that anyone anywhere could take advantage of.

3. Write Clear Messages

Get to the point: You have 160 characters to express yourself. Do it in less if you can. Make sure the message is clear and concise, written in plain English. Avoid abbreviations, emoticons, and all caps.

Don’t use open-ended messages. An example of an open-ended message is one that invites clients to a sale but doesn’t say when the sale ends. The client has no idea if it is for a day or a month. By giving a specific date when a sale ends or putting an expiration date on a coupon, clients are more likely to act because you’ve given them enough information and incentive.

4. Use Call-to-Action Buttons

Calls-to-action increase customer engagement with your SMS marketing texts. That’s exactly what you want from them: to be engaged, to value the texts you send, to read them, interact with them, and act on them.

5. Get Your Timing Right

SMS is all about immediacy. It takes people an average of three minutes to open messages. Clients’ responses to sales, promotions, and events promoted on SMS are most effective when they’re last-minute impulses. If you have a store opening event on Friday night, send the message Friday afternoon. If you have a dinner promotion at your restaurant, send it at the end of the workday, not in the morning.

SMS marketing is already a big deal, but in 2020, it’s going to be even bigger. According to Mobile Xco, 48.7 million people will choose to receive business SMS messages by next year, an increase of 23 percent from 2016.

That’s a lot of customers, and if your business taps into the power of SMS marketing, you can get in on a share of that revenue.

Not quite sure where to start? Here are 5 SMS marketing examples from worldwide corporations and local businesses alike to inspire your jump into the world of SMS marketing.

Best SMS Marketing Examples

Jack in the Box

Fast-food chain Jack in the Box has a text club where it sends “top-secret stuff” to recipients. Using SMS messaging to share coupons, discounts, and sneak peeks at new products is a great way to draw people in; everyone wants to be part of an exclusive club. Like Jack in the Box, work to make your SMS messages sound exciting and alluring.

Another thing to note is that Jack in the Box tells people right up front what to expect (five messages each month). As you get your text message marketing off the ground, make sure people know what they’re getting into when they sign up.

Subway

Subway does two successful marketing practices in its SMS campaign. The first is tailoring their messages to a specific area. Does your business have multiple on-the-ground locations? If so, ask for subscribers’ zip codes so you can figure out what discounts and news will be most relevant to them. The second practice is offering a one-time discount to hook people into signing up. Since consumers redeem coupons delivered by SMS 10 times more than other types of coupons, this is an effective way to make sales.

IKEA

IKEA is a powerful SMS marketing example: After obtaining your zip code and promising you great deals to come in four messages a month, they ask for your email address. Similarly, you can kill two birds with one stone and get email addresses via text if you don’t have them already. That way, you can get your business in front of people as much as possible. SMS marketing and email marketing aren’t mutually exclusive — they both should be integral parts of your marketing strategy. So why not let them work together?

Local Therapist

Your SMS messages don’t have to be purely promotional. Many local businesses such as doctor’s offices and therapists (pictured here) have started using SMS messages to send appointment confirmations and reminders. Since most people tend to check their text messages more frequently than their email inbox (90 percent of SMS messages are read within three minutes), this is an effective tactic.

If you send an SMS confirmation or reminder message, make sure to include both the recipient’s and company’s name, the date and time of the appointment, the office location, and a phone number where the recipient can cancel or reschedule if needed. Sending this text 24 hours in advance is ideal.

Stellar Media Marketing

Get creative about the way you use SMS marketing. Text messaging is a great channel to promote a course you’re selling, keep people updated on company news, or send them to your most recent blog post. You can even use SMS messages to send people to Messenger. That’s what one company did here: Recipients of this message are invited to open Facebook Messenger and receive details on a good discount.

Conclusion

Consumers want to be contacted via SMS by their favorite brands: 75 percent of consumers are open to receiving text messages from brands, and six in 10 consumers have a positive impression of brands that send them SMS messages. In 2020, don’t be left behind. Roll out an SMS marketing strategy and start texting your customers.

For product marketers and eCommerce managers, SMS is an increasingly essential part of multi-channel marketing —,, especially with a mobile-first online retail market.

In this article, we’ll summarize 5 benefits you may not know about SMS marketing for Shopify. We’ll also outline how to use SMS effectively for better lead acquisition, closing rates, and customer loyalty for your Shopify or Shopify Plus store.

By the end, we hope you’re ready to integrate SMS marketing right away!

5 Things Shopify Merchants need to know about SMS Marketing

1) SMS is one of the most immediate channels available

SMS (a.k.a. text message marketing) is perhaps the most direct route to customers when it comes to D2C marketing. With a 98% open rate and a 5x click rate compared to other channels (such as email marketing), SMS is a more casual and less threatening channel for customers.

Not only do standalone SMS marketing campaigns have a high success rate and proven ROI for Shopify merchants, but they also enhance and support other marketing channels like email and social marketing.

2) SMS can help you recover lost sales

Merchants not utilizing SMS as part of a mobile marketing strategy are missing out on building direct relationships with customers. As a result, this could mean sacrificing sales.

Littledata found that, on average, nearly 60% of mobile shoppers abandon their carts before completing checkout.

3) SMS helps you better understand your customers

You can learn more about the purchasing behavior of your customers by studying back-and-forth conversations.

For example, SaveMySales is a performance SMS marketing app that offers a dashboard showing customer conversions from which merchants can track trends, like commonly asked questions or concerns preventing them from purchasing.

4) SMS will increase customer engagement

SMS marketing can help you directly build 1:1 relationships and trust with your customers.

Shoppers appreciate messages that make them feel valued or special, especially when messages include personalized responses from real humans that solves their barrier to purchase.

5) Full-service SMS marketing for Shopify merchants

SaveMySales is the only human SMS marketing solution that acquires subscribers, sends messages, and replies back to shoppers.

By combining AI with the world’s best live agents, the company has created the most personal marketing channel ever. The platform drives up to 20% increases sales for Shopify stores by answering questions, providing suggestions, offering deals, and up-selling.

SMS (short message service) marketing is the process of sending promotional, transactional, and other marketing-related messages to customers via SMSs on mobile phones.

SMS marketing is just another marketing channel for your company to reach your customers. For example, you can combine SMS marketing and email marketing for more targeted drip campaigns.

However, unlike most other marketing channels, SMS marketing tends to be extremely precise due to its 160 character limit.

In spite of that, SMS marketing remains one of the most commonly used marketing tactics today. It’s reliable, accessible and will help you reach your customers in no time.

Who Can Benefit From SMS Marketing?

The real question should be – who can’t benefit from SMS marketing?
As the SMS platform is so versatile, pretty much anyone – in any industry –  can benefit from it.

Here’s a deeper look at how SMS platform marketing can help:

A. Retailers

Retail SMS marketing, it’s the perfect marketing platform to inform their customers about deals, new store additions, and other promos to encourage purchasing. It’s no surprise that SMS advertising is on the rise!

Here’s a text message example –
Hey Roger, thanks for shopping at ShirtsandShoes! Lots of exciting deals coming up so visit your nearest SnS store today or log into www.shirtsandshoes.com today!

B. Service Providers

Service providers can also use text marketing to communicate promos; however, that isn’t all they can use it for. Most service providers also use SMS marketing to send reminders to their customers about appointments/services they’ve booked.

Here’s a text message example –
You have a 16:00 appointment at Dr. Smith’s Dental Clinic today. Pls, reach 15 mins early. If you can’t make it, click here to reschedule. 

C. Travel Companies

As service providers, travel companies can use text marketing to promote offers and inform their customers about their upcoming bookings.

Here’s a text message example –
Your PNR is JA1111 for flight AA1111 on Sunday, 10th Nov from LAX to JFK at 18:30. Have a nice flight, American Airlines.

3 Ways To Use SMS Marketing for eCommerce

What is SMS marketing good for?

You could use SMS marketing services for:

• SMS advertising.
• Updating customers.
• Sending surveys.

And that’s just scratching the surface of what a text marketing tool can be used for!
However, most people use text marketing for one of these three reasons:

A. Promotional Messages

Tons of companies use SMS marketing services for SMS advertising. They use it to promote offers and coupons to their customers. This encourages the customer to make a purchase which increases your sales revenue.

Here’s a mass text messaging example:
Show this SMS to your waiter to receive a complimentary entree on your next 2 meals at Sal’s Pizzeria. The offer is valid till 12/12/19.

B. Transactional Messages

Companies also use SMS marketing services to send personalized messages that are triggered by certain customer actions, such as making a purchase. Most credit card companies use these messages to keep their customers informed about their purchases.

Here’s a short message service example:
You recently paid $50 to XYZ. Txn ID: 123456789. Updated balance: $1000.

C. Update/Reminder Messages

Companies also use message marketing services to keep customers in-the-loop about important messages.

Here’s a short message service example:
Mr. Adams, your package AWB 29913333 is out for delivery. To track your parcel, visit www.trackmypkg.com.